The best drink in the world

by Avantika Shah

Water, one of the important nutrients helps remove waste products, transports nutrients, hydrates skin and organs. Despite knowing the significance of it most us fail to meet our daily requirement on a regular basis. If you ask most people about their water intake during the day, you will be shocked by the answers: “3-4 glasses in a day/I just don’t remember to drink water/I drink water only when am thirsty.

Why do we need to drink water?

Temperature Regulation
We lose water through breathing (breath is moist), the skin (this happens even if there is no obvious “sweat”) and urine, sweat, and faeces. Since sweat is mostly water, one needs to drink water to replace what is lost through perspiration.
Adequate hydration improves the ability to maintain a safe body temperature even if one sweats excessively.

Removal of waste from the body
Every cell in our body is constantly rebuilt. Compare this process to that of building a house. Throughout construction, there are always waste materials left around as by-products of development, which need to be discarded on timely basis.

Similarly as body rebuilds, blood cleans away waste material. Cleaning process gets hampered in a dehydrated body further increasing waste build-ups, which in turn gives rise to acid levels in blood, which may increase resistance to burn fat. Water plays a major role in helping the body to offset rising acid levels.

How would you know if you are dehydrated?”

Some of the signs of dehydration in

•Dry Mout

•Sunken eyes

•Headaches

•Loss of skin elasticity (if your skin is slow to bounce back after being pinched, you could be dehydrated)

•Muscle cramps

These are symptoms to look for on a daily basis, they will provide you with a point of reference for adequate hydration levels.

I make sure to drink water immediately when I am thirsty. isn’t that adequate enough?
Common mistake most of us make is to rely on thirst as the ”alarm” bell for when to drink. Remember thirst is a very late indicator of dehydration. In addition thirst is sometimes misinterpreted as hunger, so we often eat when we should be drinking - which further exacerbates the problem.

How much water should we drink every day?
Each individual requires a certain amount for his/her body because a lot depends on factors like climate, intake of caffeine based beverages, level of physical activity etc.

Determining what your actual needs are, involves some experimentation with your own body. As a thumb rule you are adequately hydrated if your urine is clear and odourless. If it is dark yellow in colour, you are probably not drinking enough and must increase your intake.

Increase your water intake to optimal levels
Now that you have some water facts, you can work towards increasing your water intake to prevent dehydration and in optimal health and fitness.